BUT, BEFORE WE GET TO THE RECIPES… I need to tell you about a 3-day complimentary masterclass running Sept 10-12.

It’s our Power Up Your Metabolic Health Reset (and its sooooooooo much more than just weight loss).

Your metabolism = how your body uniquely converts the foods you eat into energy to power up your physical, mental, emotional and energetic self.  Your metabolic health IS the foundation of your longevity and it’s how to feel like your best self EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Over the course of three days we’ll teach you how to eat for your unique body’s needs, come up with a strategic health plan and set you on the course toward your goals…

whether they’re weight loss, strength building, calming peri/menopause symptoms, achieving healthy periods, etc — because the foundations ARE the foundations.

REGISTER HERE! 

Ok, back to Breakfast Television – you can watch the segment here and also watch where I got stumped on live national television — whoops!

Onto the recipes…

As a little gift for you, for making it ALLLLLL the way to the end!

In September, we’re offering a *limited* amount of FREE coaching sessions — get immediate support to learn how to achieve your health goals and remove blocks and blindspots that are in the way!  This is only available for a limited amount of time.  BOOK YOUR CALL HERE!

These are the veg you pass by in the grocery store or at the farmer’s market and think, “how the heck would I cook that?”

We’re all creatures of habit — we tend to make the same recipes, buy the same ingredients, because well… it’s easy but mostly it’s familiar and our brain loves what’s familiar!

Here’s my case for getting out of the ‘familiar’ and making this recipe:

– it takes 10-15 minutes to make
– you don’t have to turn on your oven (amazing for summer!)
– it’s show-stoppingly (is that a word?) gorgeous – especially with all the nuts and herbs on top!
– it’s blood sugar friendly
– it’s loaded in fiber, magnesium (calming nutrient!), prebiotics and so many other nutrients that your cells LOVE!
– lastly, it’s refreshing, zippy and DELICIOUS.  Not just saying that — genuinely so tasty!

In July, we’re offering a limited amount of FREE coaching sessions — get immediate support to learn how to achieve your health goals and remove blocks and blindspots that are in the way!  This is only available for a limited amount of time.  BOOK YOUR CALL HERE!

Aaaannnd, if you’re curious to watch the whole “weird” veggies segment, find it here on Breakfast Television (sorry non-Canadians, the governments/WIFI-Gods won’t let you watch it – unfortunately)

One of our favorite ways to make kabocha squash is to slice it in wedges, rub with oil and roast until it gets crispy on the edges and soft inside.  If roasting in wedges, we actually keep the skin on if it’s an organic squash and eat it too.  When we have extra time on our hands, breading squash is another delicious special way to make it, like we do in our Crispy Delicata Squash Rings.  We hope that this squash turmeric soup will bring you comfort and help you feel cozy!

Serve these as an interesting appetizer or as a side dish with a larger meal, or even with a Thanksgiving spread.

Crispy Delicata Squash Rings

For the breading:
1 cup almond flour
1/3 cup sesame seeds
3/4 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Additional ingredients:
2 delicata squash
2 eggs
2/3 cup arrowroot or tapioca starch

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Wash and dry the delicata squashes. Use a sharp knife to slice them into discs, about 1/4 inch thick and then use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.
3. To set up your dipping stations you’ll need 3 bowls. Whisk the eggs in one bowl. Place the arrowroot or tapioca starch in the second bowl. And combine the rest of the breading ingredients in the third bowl.
4. Dip each piece of squash into the arrowroot or tapioca starch to coat. Then dip into the egg to coat evenly. Lastly, place the squash rings into the breading bowl to coat. Once coated, place the coated squash rings down on the baking sheet.
5. Using a spoon, drizzle extra virgin olive oil over top of each squash ring.
6. Bake for 20 minutes. Then flip each piece of squash, drizzling more extra virgin olive oil over top to coat the second side. Roast for another 20 minutes.
7. Serve with a simple yogurt sauce, aioli, or tahini sauce (you could whip up this simple tahini sauce) if you desire!

But fast forward to today and marshmallows are not exactly at the top of our list of nutritious foods to include in the repertoire.  This alternative gluten free and dairy free, vegan recipe will give you healthy rice crispy treats instead. 

Blood Sugar Balance

We talk a lot about the importance of eating protein and healthy fat at each meal to stabilize your blood sugar, but what about when you want to have a dessert?  It’s completely normal to indulge sometimes and enjoy a treat, you’ve got to enjoy life after all!  The key is to be conscious of the type of treats you eat.  By using tahini, we add in a nutritious, healthy fat that’s also rich in many minerals such as calcium.  Tahini also provides some protein and we get some extra fat from the coconut oil.  These two will help to reduce the blood sugar spike that you’ll experience after eating rice crispy treats. 

Valentine’s Day

If you want to make these for Valentine’s Day, like we did, the pink yogurt topping looks pretty AND adds the additional benefit of some gut supportive probiotics.  You can use a natural pink coloring here, instead of food coloring. For that we like to use dehydrated beet powder or pink pitaya (dragonfruit) powder.

The yogurt topping needs to be stored in the freezer in order to remain solid.  We just recommend taking the rice crispy treats out of the freezer a few minutes before you want to eat them, so they can warm up slightly.  The frozen yogurt is actually really refreshing to bite into and pairs perfectly with the rice crispy treats!

We also lighten up the traditional mayo based waldorf dressing and use yogurt instead for a creamy dressing with extra tang.  If you’re dairy-free, you can use an unsweetened plain coconut or almond based yogurt instead of regular yogurt.

Kale

Not only does our hearty friend kale stand up well to the creamy dressing (this salad will store well in the fridge for a couple of days even when dressed), but it enhances the nutritional benefits of this recipe.

Kale is part of the cruciferous vegetable family, which also includes veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and brussels sprouts.  The cruciferous vegetables are rich in a phytochemical called glucosinolate.  Glucosinolates are studied for their neuroprotective properties.  They activate a specific neuron pathway in the brain that supports antioxidant activity.  This then protects the brain from neurodegeneration.

We love to think about how nutrients in food support our bodies and deliver so many amazing benefits to our cells.  It just adds an extra level of awareness to a meal beyond simply noticing the flavor of the food.  Why not add this to the list of things to be grateful for during the holidays?

If you’re looking for other winter inspired salad recipes, we love this other one that we made last year: Roasted Radicchio and Yellow Beet Salad with Blood Orange.  We’d love to see if you make this holiday kale waldorf salad!  Please do share any photos you take with us on social media and tag us Instagram or Facebook.

Anyway, back to the grain free tahini brownies at hand! This recipe is so simple to whip together and has the best texture.  We prefer when brownies are gooey and just melt in your mouth (not a fan of dry brownies over here, but don’t know about you!).

If you like extra chocolate, you can add in twice as much of the chopped dark chocolate.

We haven’t  tried this recipe with yacon syrup yet, but we think it would work well to swap the maple syrup for yacon syrup (1:1) if you want to use it as a lower glycemic sweetener instead of maple syrup.

The best part about using tahini in this recipe is that it’s naturally high in protein and healthy fat, which will help stabilize blood sugar instead of the way that sugary white flour brownies spike blood sugar quickly.  If you’re able to get tahini that’s made in the Middle Eastern style, such as from Israel, it works best to ensure that gooey texture of the grain free brownies.  We actually haven’t tested this recipe yet with a thicker, less runny tahini.  If you do try out the recipe with a thicker tahini do let us know how it turns out! 

If you make these brownies, we’d love to see a photo! Don’t forget to share on Facebook or Instagram and tag us at livingkitchenco so we can see your creation!

We are so excited to read through the new Oh She Glows for Dinner cookbook, by Angela Liddon, and can’t wait to try out more of the recipes.  This recipe is based on the Boom! Broccoli Pesto recipe in Angela’s cookbook (although we’ve made a few small changes!).  Her recipe calls for more garlic and lemon than we use below, so if you prefer the original recipe, use 5 medium cloves of garlic, 5 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, and include 1/2 cup parsley.

Although we focus on broccoli in this pesto recipe, we still love basil based pesto recipes.  Here’s one of our older ones for Walnut Pesto.

Now, back to the recipe at hand:

We’d love to hear if you give this recipe a try!  If you snap a photo, let us know by tagging us on instagram or facebook at @livingkitchenco.

An autumn rainbow salad with Brussels sprouts, butternut squash and beets: you really can’t go wrong! Once it gets cooler we start making warm salads or slightly wilted, partially cooked salads, instead of fully raw ones.  Here we roast brussels sprouts, butternut squash and beets and then combine them with lemon massaged kale to provide the perfect combo of sweet root veggies with fresh kale (plus lots of fiber).

Here’s another autumn themed salad recipe that we made last year: Roasted Cauliflower Brussels Sprouts Salad.

Wild Caught Salmon

It’s really important to us that we choose sustainably caught seafood, both for our own health and the health of our planet.

Once of the sustainable seafood labels that we look for when shopping is MSC certified (the Marine Stewardship Council).  They certify seafood that’s been caught sustainably, meaning they prevent overfishing, respect habitats to preserve the health of the ocean, and they ensure the people who depend on fishing maintain their livelihoods.

We use smoked wild caught salmon in this recipe because it’s high in omega 3’s, the essential fatty acids that are vital for the health of our brains, as well as support our hormonal health and play a role in reducing inflammation.  If you don’t like smoked salmon, you could easily make this salad with fresh seared wild caught salmon instead.  AND, if you’re vegetarian, omit the salmon and add in some chickpeas to this delicious salad.  Chickpeas always pair well with brussels sprouts, butternut squash and beets.

We’d love to know if you make this recipe!  Please share any photos you take and tag us on social media @livingkitchenco for Instagram and Facebook.

It really is our protein of choice, especially during a pandemic when kids are running around, work is somehow happening in the background and everyone needs to eat with minimal time to prep and cook.

I have said this many, many times before, I genuinely believe eggs are the perfect food, especially if you can get your hands on Conestoga eggs that are certified local by Foodland Ontario and produced by Ontario farmers.

One egg has about 6 grams of protein, which is needed for blood sugar balance and to build pretty much everything in the body (think: hormones, enzymes, hair, nails….)

They’re also a really good source of choline — this is a nutrient that’s essential for healthy brain function like learning new things and then actually remembering them!

Eggs are also loaded in key, key nutrients like B vitamins, vitamin D, zinc and selenium which are necessary for hormonal balance, immune function, mood regulation and about a million and a half other functions.

For most breakfasts or lunches, our meals consist of quick omelettes or scrambles, but when we need a change (and to eat more greens, which we’re always trying to do) we make Green Shakshuka.

Shakshuka is popular in many Middle Eastern countries and usually consists of eggs slowly simmering in a flavour-packed tomato sauce.

We like to choose Conestoga Free-Range eggs for our shakshuka or scrambles, since we know they come from Ontario-raised hens that live in open-concept farms with access to outdoor pasture to happily and freely forage.  Other Conestoga options include free-range omega 3, free-run, organic and hardboiled and peeled.

For our Green Shakshuka, we’ve swapped out the classic tomato-based sauce and added in greens for the eggs to gently perch on top of and cook, but only slightly.

We then load it with toppings like avocado, feta, cilantro, hot sauce, pretty much the works.  We are firm believers in “flavour-bomb” food where every bite gives you something textural and hits on all your taste sensations — this meal does that.